In other NEWS... there have been studies done that show people's interests wane over time.

I'm having a good time with the game yet still have a few issues with it at the moment. It runs smoothly at fifty or so frames with high or better settings. I don't get a lot of lag. But when I do get it it makes the game frustrating to play. Which has been the case since Al Gore helped to invent the Internet, damn him...

My biggest complaint is they only let you have characters on one server/world at a time. And then only five. I would like to have one of each profession without having to delete a character just to try another type. Add that to the limited shared bank space and it seems they are doing their best to get me to buy gems for more access.

Yes, I know you can trade coin in game to get gems but I would have to exploit a glitch (possibly getting the Ban Hammer), hire some Chinese Gold Farmers (or just buy some gold from them), or quit my job so that I can play 24/7 to afford just the three things in game that I feel they held back on in their effort to make me want to buy gems.

We're talking spending another $25. Eighteen Hundred Gems to unlock a sixth character slot, a fifth bag slot in the inventory, and finally to unlock more bank space for my five or six characters to share. I know they are trying to make money since that is what businesses do. I know they don't charge a monthly fee... and only charge for the expansions which are sure to follow starting next year.

And those reasons are pretty good. Otherwise I wouldn't even entertain the thought of dropping another $25 for in game purchases. Yet, I can't seem to pull the trigger. For three days now I have been on the fence. Just not sure I like this trend that has become the norm.

Still I already feel I have got my money's worth from GW2. Having a blast.

edit: Too fucking ironic that as I posted that an ad was up top for the purchase of Diablo 3 Gold.

This comment was edited on Sep 2, 2012, 21:23.

Cutter, how much more space did your bank unlock open up?

One of my biggest gripes is the shared bank across all toons. Pretty much forces you to open more space using gems. I like that the toons share collectibles. That I can applaud. While I play alts and focus on other crafting skills what I've gathered but can't use contributes to the leveling of my other character just by sending the items to the collectibles storage/bank.

My other complaint is that I'm having fun with every profession so far. Somebody was talking about thier Necro being boring? Did you try a dual dagger wielding necro? Adds a nice twist to the class.... er, profession.

Another thing I noticed is you can only have characters on one server at a time? And five is the limit? Not sure I like that since I wanted to try them all without deleting any. The flips side is it helps me focus on what I got instead of trying every profession there is before making the tough decision on which I like best.

Leaning toward the Engineer and the Ranger as my two mains. Though the Guardian is a blast to play and I have yet to try the Warrior, the Thief, and the Mesmer.

Having too much fun playing Gw2. I will have to use the Jedi Mind Trick on myself again in the morning... otherwise I may want to call in sick... staying home the rest of the week just to playing GW2.

This comment was edited on Aug 29, 2012, 03:15.

I've been playing most of the day. Have a level 14 Sylvari Necro. Got in last night before the official launch time and the connection was up and down a lot but I was able to get several characters made with names I wanted. Today the server is solid. Solo playing mostly.

Loving the game. Blows my mind... the crafting gives you items that you can actually use and/or haven't yet out grown. Fun experimenting with items to create new recipes. Also love that I am spending most of my time just running around exploring, doing quests, joining in the dynamic events, and gathering crafting supplies.

Haven't jumped into WvWvW yet. Enjoyed it in beta. And know it will be even more addictive than the PvE I'm enjoying now. Worth every penny.

Best part of the game (besides exploring the awesome environments) has to be the way using different weapons change the profession so drastically. Having a hard time turning it off.

Dev wrote on Jul 29, 2012, 20:11:

jacobvandy wrote on Jul 29, 2012, 17:56:
Major issue with DayZ at the moment, as far as gameplay design, is the complete lack of incentive to team up with other players. It's very easy to survive on your own if you're at least somewhat careful, so most people just shoot other players on sight because they see them as walking piñatas rather than potential allies.

Kinda like real life might be in a zombie apocalypse.

Yep, I can dig that part of it. But the AI Zs and Bandits turn into Carl Lewis and start warping/running around like a meth head on bath salts.

Axis wrote on Jul 29, 2012, 16:56:
The real lesson here is inclusion of modding. Make even a mediocre game moddable, you can still become mighty profitable.

No doubt. I was going to avoid ArmA II after being burned with the original and trying the ArmA II Demo. This game is full of issues. Playing some DayZ and noticing the same. But they at least are in Alpha stage not retail. Or so they say they have plans to make it a stand alone later this year. I hope they can fix some of the many issues with the game.

It can be fun playing solo also. Lone Wolf against the world. Killing the Zs getting easy once you find the right weapons. But their psycho AI abilities makes it very inconsistent as far as great game play goes. Still its fun.

Nerian wrote on Jul 23, 2012, 00:21:
GUYS. CALM DOWN. READ THE LEGAL DOCUMENT.

THIS IS A LAWSUIT OVER A GAME CALLED "MINDCRAFT". THEY SENT IT TO THE WRONG GUY!

LOL, thanks. After reading all of Cutters hate posts and the others hitting him back I was cracking up pretty good but that one was solid gold.

Again, thank you.

L M A O, thanks. Good one. I was thinking about the BestBuy Geek Squad tech. Though I must admit she looked better last night when I had a few beers... plus a few crown and cokes in me.

How you doing?

Axis wrote on Jul 6, 2012, 20:56:
Looks like garbage to me.

Well, you know what they say? One mans trash is another mans treasure.

I'm thinking it will fall someplace in the middle. Looks both good and bad depending on the screen shot. I'm hoping its a good game since we will get to play as the Orc.

At least they will have a month or two so they can try and compete...

http://www.guildwars2.com/en/

GW2 Launches 08-28-12

http://www.arena.net/blog/announcing-the-guild-wars-2-launch-date

Seems the site is down. By the way where does one go to get Minecraft downloads that don't require the installation of some bloatware downloader and/or spyware? Seems the several sites I tried where full of the shit and won't allow you to just download the mods.

Didn't the same thing happen when they were ready to release Age of Conan?

Creston wrote on Jun 22, 2012, 12:28:

Eirikrautha wrote on Jun 21, 2012, 21:22:
The original poster decried the lack of commitment in the US to increasing the availability of fast data services. He referred to such services as "infrastructure." I simply pointed out the differences in scale between SK and the US, and (sarcastically) that the definition of "infrastructure" today is "anything I'd like to have, but want other people to pay for." Data service is NOT "infrastructure" ... it is a luxury. And it is a luxury that the American people don't seem to want to pay for. If they did, Verizon wouldn't have stopped converting old copper to FIOS. There's no interest among large groups of Americans to create a high-speed network for everyone with their disposable income. So, what is the other funding option? Force people to pay for something they don't want (but you do) through the government's forcible confiscation of wages, under the guise of "infrastructure." Well, sorry, but that doesn't fly...

Verizon didn't stop rolling out FIOS because there was no demand. They stopped rolling out FIOS because they'd done their most dense markets, and didn't really care about the less dense ones. There's plenty of people who'd LOVE to get FIOS, and Verizon doesn't care to roll it out to their neighborhood.

So... is that the customer's fault, in your opinion?

And actually, the government has this wonderful initiative in place that gives subsidies to Telcos to deploy high-end data infrastructure to rural areas. (It used to be just phones and they use the same thing for "broadband" internet access now.)

Sadly, like with all things government does, all the initiative does is pay out money to AT&T and Time Warner and its ilk, and they just put it in the bank while rolling out exactly zero meters of fiber to any rural area.

So yeah, there is actually funds available to get more of America connected in a decent fashion. It's just not being used that way because the government is fucking incompetent and the Telcos are just thieves.

Creston

As far as I remember none of the large NA telcos took that carrot. They took not one red cent of the Obama Stimulus Package... or whatever it was being called when our government printed trillions of dollars and gave it to large corporations/banks for the so called trickle down theory. So the only reason that they (large telcos) would roll out broadband to rural areas if there is a perceived market there. Remember they spent millions pushing out DSL to some rural areas and they never recouped that money. You think they will do it again on an even more expensive network?

Also why pay to put FTTN or FTTP in when the customers are constantly jumping ship? The only thing the customer cares about is who is giving me the best priced package. I see it all the time. The customer will give you the lamest reasons why they switched to the other provider put up with shitty service until the promo was up then switched back. Funnier still is when they switch back they expect the entire install to be FREE? After they had the VOIP provider come in and butcher their inside phone wire. So then they bitch about how much the fees are to fix it. Fast forward... six months later... they are jumping to another provider again. It is a never ending cycle with the low income customer. They see the savings on the monthly bill and that is all that matters.

That is their prerogative. Freedom of choice and all that jazz. And I would love to tell you that we are in a fantasy land here in the US where the company with the best customer service wins in the end. Fact is poor service doesn't matter to people anymore. Most get poor service because they are poor customers. They expect it. Seems they love it... because it has gone viral. I can't tell you the last time I was given great customers service outside of a sit down non fast food restaurant.

Times have changed and not for the better.

Alamar wrote on Jun 21, 2012, 13:35:
Interesting... what games have a need for a 'collector edition version'?

-Alamar

None have a "need" for the CE but if you have the means and want the extras you have that option. Just like getting those low profile tires and the sports package when you're buying a new car. If you can afford it and/or want it... get it.

edit: Diablo III CE @ Amazon.Com
It appears the market is over saturated at the moment.

This comment was edited on Jun 21, 2012, 13:52.

Yeah, I am getting tired of this type of testing too. Last Beta event I was out of town and the one before that I was working so I missed it entirely. These short stress tests during the normal workday seem to be more intended to catch the public's attention and/or just a PR stunt.

I pre-purchased and am wondering why they don't allow us to beta like everyone else. Unless something has changed in the last month or so... I know for a fact they have had an ongoing beta for more than six months now since I know several people who are in and are allowed to play pretty much when they want to.

Flatline wrote on Jun 21, 2012, 12:29:
I wish we had that kind of vision here in America. However, here innovation means "figure out new ways to charge you more for less service or product!"

That is spot on. I can't remember the last time I called in or contact a company via e-mail and received a prompt sensible response. The tech support/help line/customer support in this country has gone to shit. It was never great... but comparing five or so years ago to today's standard... back then, it was stellar. I'm not just talking about computer software tech support. Everything from ordering services from a local provider (cable/Internet/phone) to applying for unemployment (not me). I hear it from almost every customer I visit and pretty much anyone else I talk to that had to call somebody for support concerning a service or product. Yet, these businesses wonder why the public hates them?

Back on topic. I've been out of town most of the past month and a half so I am finally thinking about opening my CE D3. Though I am hesitant to do so.

Tumbler wrote on May 15, 2012, 23:19:
Heh, I had an hour to play Diablo 3 tonight while the wife is at the Gym. I think it worked for 20 min now I'm not able to login.

The game performance this evening is kind of hilarious. You can see how much of this game is online and when things aren't working well it's painful. The attack animations just stop working. I'm a wizard and at times the attacks will lag and I'm realizing that everytime I click attack it's asking the server if I'm allowed to shoot this fireball. When I get disconnected it stops working. There will be a time between disconnect and an error popping up where you can still move around but everything stops working. My little wizard will swing her sword but she can't shoot her arcane missile or use her laser beam.

The game tonight is behaving like it's a buggy mess. The game stutters often and rather than it feeling like lag the game feels like it's just poorly made. Earlier today when I was playing, around 1pm, it was great. Ran very well, being online was barely noticeable, until they turned the game off...but tonight it's pretty sad how much of the functions of the game depend on talking to the server. The glowing doorways between zones even stopped working. The map will show there should be a door you can enter but if you go over there you can't use them.

I'll be surprised if they don't add an offline mode similar to starcraft 2 at some point in the future because so much of this game requires communication with the home office that I am guessing it's taking immense amounts of bandwidth and power to keep everyone up and doesn't it become not cost effective to go to all this trouble at some point in the future?

Maybe this is just a paranoid crazy action to try and force people to pay to play for at least a month? Make the game unplayable without connecting to us and everyone will buy it! (side note, game will be unplayable for everyone from time to time but we're fighting piracy here! They'll understand!)

Protip: Get Diablo 3 for free and it's easy to just laugh at all of this! (trade ins)

Trade Ins = FREE ?

NKD wrote on May 15, 2012, 23:16:
I just don't understand the big deal here. People on this site are talking lawsuits for fucks sake. Over a game not being playable for part of the first day??

Surely I can't be the only one who thinks that's over the line from being legitimately annoyed way down into crazytown.

Won't you take me to crazytown?

@Cutter Mmmm... Strongbow.